Charging to get home

Yeah, two of my neighbors have Teslas. One a model Y and one a Model S. I've test driven one in Colorado and driven a couple locally. I get how they work. Point is - the software can't predict a future traffic jam. For @JeffKeryk who never has to run the heat, or the AC, and doesn't drive across long bridges, sure, get just enough of a charge to get home. Pad it by a couple miles. Good to go.

But that doesn't work in the real world.

We, the Tesla owners and I, have talked about this exact scenario - the trapped on a bridge scenario - they do not run the car anywhere as close as the OP in this thread. They've been stuck in the same unexpected traffic jams that I have - things look good, and bam, you're on a road, with no exits, for an extra hour.

What good is re-routing you to a charger, if that charger is inaccessible because you're on a bridge? Or stuck in a tunnel?

The software may be good, but it cannot predict the future. People got trapped on 95, just north of here, for over 12 hours, in the ice storm, remember? How did the software do predicting that? And re-routing Tesla owners to chargers? They got stuck, ran the battery to zero by using the heat, and had to get towed.

Throw in a couple of long bridge/tunnels and it becomes a real threat. A daily threat.

I've been on the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel (17 miles long) when there was a crash. Three hours stuck in one spot. Nearest charger was on the shore, over ten miles away, and you cannot turn around on the bridge.

Power consumption when not moving, though, is not zero if, as I described, it's a day like today - over 90 degrees, over 90% humidity. You need electricity to run the AC. Or heat as those stuck on 95 found out.

Besides, your statement that such a scenario is not really possible is simply untrue.

It's not only possible, it is likely.

And Tesla owners around here account for that.
This! Now Tesla is being investigated for padding their milage claims. We shall see if there is any outcome to it.
 
We got it as a test. Wanted to try out the Tesla life. We never had a problem finding charging but it was certainly a hassle. Sometimes you need to plan out your day around charging, adjust your route to go somewhere you have no interest in going, sitting around because the chargers are full. They drive really nice but also hated the glass roof in the summer/ hot desert climate. My back was always sweaty, the rental had unvented black leather. That would be another reason to avoid a Tesla for a Florida trip.
Tesla don't even offer leather, they call it vegan leather in other words cheap plastic seats. Not much quality in those cars just cheap way over priced low quality and non eco friendly materials.
 
Tesla don't even offer leather, they call it vegan leather in other words cheap plastic seats. Not much quality in those cars just cheap way over priced low quality and non eco friendly materials.
Yeah, imitation leather is common today.
Our Model 3 has the vegan leather but has a leather covered steering wheel as it is an early car. They converted the steering wheel the next year, I believe.

Our Lexus RX450h F Sport has NuLuxe, a similar material. It's a man-made leather upholstery that Lexus says has the look and feel of leather without the added cost and care.

Most all BMW vehicles are available with SensaTec upholstery, which according to BMW is essentially a synthetic leather that's not made from animal hide and is instead designed to provide you with the same comfort, without the downfalls.

Some Mercedes cars come with MB-Tex, a synthetic leather material, as the standard seating material. If you want real leather seats, you have to pay extra. Mercedes also uses Artico leather, which is a man-made substitute for animal hides. Artico leather looks nice and feels very similar to real leather without being as expensive.

I was surprised to learn this; I first heard of Lexus using imitation leather. I used fake leather seat covers when I had the seats rebuilt in my 68 Corvette. I wanted the original vynal Basketweave but they were too expensive. A much heavier, better material. I couldn't afford them. There used to be an interior guy in San Jose, Morgan Auto Upholstery, who was licensed by Cadillac and Rolls to do interior work. He had a 1948 Caddy convertible owned by Neil Young that he was making a new top and interior for. He told me there were no patterns available. He did such an amazing job on my Vette seats; the old foam was collapsed. I'm sure he's gone now.

Mr Morgan did the front seat in my 65 4-4-2. He did not like the quality of the material I brought, even though it was from an Olds place...
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Toyota has been doing the same.....for a decade?
Mercedes too. MB Tex. I wish Tesla would just do cloth though. There's something about the softness of "vegan leather" that makes it extra sticky. Real leather only stretches one direction where vegan leather stretches in all direction since it is very soft rubber which makes it stick more. I love Volvo's wool for premium seats.
 

Toyota Camry XLE​


At this level, the features begin to look a bit more luxurious. The Toyota Camry XLE comes with authentic leather seats and beautiful Tiger Eye wood interior trim.
Mercedes too. MB Tex. I wish Tesla would just do cloth though. There's something about the softness of "vegan leather" that makes it extra sticky. Real leather only stretches one direction where vegan leather stretches in all direction since it is very soft rubber which makes it stick more. I love Volvo's wool for premium seats.
Toyota's "leather" may as well be hard plastic.

Outside of "quality" leather used in S-classes (and similar), the fake leather seems to wear better over time anyway.
 
Yeah, imitation leather is common today.
Our Model 3 has the vegan leather but has a leather covered steering wheel as it is an early car. They converted the steering wheel the next year, I believe.

Our Lexus RX450h F Sport has NuLuxe, a similar material. It's a man-made leather upholstery that Lexus says has the look and feel of leather without the added cost and care.

Most all BMW vehicles are available with SensaTec upholstery, which according to BMW is essentially a synthetic leather that's not made from animal hide and is instead designed to provide you with the same comfort, without the downfalls.

Some Mercedes cars come with MB-Tex, a synthetic leather material, as the standard seating material. If you want real leather seats, you have to pay extra. Mercedes also uses Artico leather, which is a man-made substitute for animal hides. Artico leather looks nice and feels very similar to real leather without being as expensive.

I was surprised to learn this; I first heard of Lexus using imitation leather. I used fake leather seat covers when I had the seats rebuilt in my 68 Corvette. I wanted the original vynal Basketweave but they were too expensive. A much heavier, better material. I couldn't afford them. There used to be an interior guy in San Jose, Morgan Auto Upholstery, who was licensed by Cadillac and Rolls to do interior work. He had a 1948 Caddy convertible owned by Neil Young that he was making a new top and interior for. He told me there were no patterns available. He did such an amazing job on my Vette seats; the old foam was collapsed. I'm sure he's gone now.

I was curious about exotics and found a description of "Alcantara leather" being used in McLaren cars. Found out it's a polyester/polyurethane blend. Leather substitues are common these days so I'm not sure why that's even a big point of discussion other than being argumentative.

I remember 80s MB-Tex. It was horrible. It wasn't so bad in the bucket seats that were stitched and textured where it was kind of soft and cushioned and the passenger could sink into it. I was the kid and on trips I had to sit in the middle back "hump" seat. Not only did I have to deal with carsickness being in the middle, but also that middle back was stuffed really hard with almost no give.

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Toyota's "leather" may as well be hard plastic.

Outside of "quality" leather used in S-classes (and similar), the fake leather seems to wear better over time anyway.

Once I saw my dream car from high school in a used car lot - a Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16 in black pearl. Was selling for about $8000 and apparently in drivable condition. But the leather had clearly busted several seams on the driver side, although I'm thinking it probably could have been repaired by an upholstery shop.
 
I was curious about exotics and found a description of "Alcantara leather" being used in McLaren cars. Found out it's a polyester/polyurethane blend. Leather substitues are common these days so I'm not sure why that's even a big point of discussion other than being argumentative.

I remember 80s MB-Tex. It was horrible. It wasn't so bad in the bucket seats that were stitched and textured where it was kind of soft and cushioned and the passenger could sink into it. I was the kid and on trips I had to sit in the middle back "hump" seat. Not only did I have to deal with carsickness being in the middle, but also that middle back was stuffed really hard with almost no give.

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Same car with real nice cloth and obligatory dash mat on these cars to prevent cracking.



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Toyota's "leather" may as well be hard plastic.

Outside of "quality" leather used in S-classes (and similar), the fake leather seems to wear better over time anyway.
It may hold up better, but it doesn't feel as good. I'd take any other material than fake leather. I'm not even that big a fan of real leather. I absolutely hate the seats in the Tesla. They're comfortable enough, but they look and feel cheap. It's probably hard to compare them to the GTI with deep bolstering and real leather. Obviously every real leather is heavily coated these days and has vinyl in some pieces for cost savings, but it's not even a comparison.

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The 1984 300D-Turbo that my dad drove was an automatic and had this weird looking gated selector. Looks like someone replaced that horrible Becker stereo with the weird volume/bass/treble/balance controls in this car.

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The classic Mercedes gate! I loved that. I also miss the old Jaguar J gate.

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The $8K difference is after the tax credit.

THere are only 2 Prime models.

SE is $44K, usually a $5K minimum market adjustment to $49K, less $7500 rebate = $41.5K. Hybrid SE is $35K MSRP. you can usually get them pretty close, maybe a little more. $7K difference depending on exact conditions.

There is also a XSE - Prime $48K + 5K market adjustment = $53K - $7.5 = $45.5. XSE hybrid=$38K MSPR So in the $7K more range

Depends on the market and the market adjustment, and some states have additional rebates, but everyone I read buying one on Rav4world, and there were many, were paying $8K premium after rebate unless your in a state with the additional kicker.

Why anyone would pay a market adjustment on any grocery getter is beyond me.
No market adjustment for them, sold at MSRP -$9000 apparent (MA and Federal) and the vehicle was a rejected order (common) from someone. They just don’t love cloth seats or lack of sunroof .
 
Yeah, I'm not pleased about that. My wife wasn't impressed either.
I'm hooked. I would get one today if I could. I wanna know what they are gonna do with the Performance... Elon got something up his sleeve?
Like the cars or not, you are looking at the future. I'm ready.
 
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